Nearly four months after China reopened its borders, nonstop commercial flights to and from the US remain down 94% from pre-pandemic levels even as American carriers seen a rebound in travel to other Asian destinations. Eighty-five flights are scheduled across 10 routes from the US to mainland China this month, compared with the 1,506 across 50 routes that flew in April 2019, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows. The figures show a slow recovery in travel between the world's two largest economies after the long disruption caused by COVID-19, with airlines expecting improvement in the summer and beyond. Flights are down for both US and Chinese carriers. Air China's operations from Los Angeles to Beijing have dropped from almost three flights daily to just five for all of April. United Airlines service from San Francisco to Shanghai has the most scheduled flights this month with 18. The biggest American airlines have just wrapped up their first-quarter earnings season, which showed major gains in international travel elsewhere across the Pacific, as well as the return of corporate clients. United's passenger revenue in the Pacific region reached $962m, a gain of 324% from Q1 2022 and by far the biggest regional increase for the carrier. Overall passenger revenue rose 62%. Scheduled capacity this summer for United's flights across the Pacific excluding China is forecast to be up 14%. The airline also launched three new US-Japan routes, reestablished two others dormant since 2020 and resumed flights between Hong Kong and San Francisco. United is also greatly expanding flights from the U.S. to Australia and New Zealand at the end of this year. "In regards to China, we continue to be stuck at four flights per week," said Andrew Nocella, United's chief commercial officer. "We are preparing to fly more than that, but have been unable to get that done so far. But hopefully later this year, we will be flying more to China, and we have the aircraft to do so if the conditions allow us to do so."<br/>
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United Airlines’ plan to revamp the cabins on its older narrow-body planes is running behind schedule because of supply chain strains, the carrier told CNBC this week. The upgrades include bigger premium cabins, seat-back entertainment screens throughout the planes, Bluetooth capabilities and other amenities. The Chicago-based airline previously expected to have 100 of its narrow-body planes retrofitted with the new interiors by the end of the year but now expects 60 will be complete by then, a spokeswoman said. “The reality is the supply challenges across the board whether it be [inflight entertainment] systems, chips, seats and many other things are just more challenging than they’ve ever been in our business,” United’s chief commercial officer, Andrew Nocella, said on an earnings call last week. United unveiled the overhauled cabins in June 2021 on the heels of an order for 270 new Boeing and Airbus narrow-body planes, an effort to refresh its brand as airlines compete for passengers in the travel rebound, particularly big spenders. United has also said it expects to have more premium seats for sale for each departure than any other airline in North America by 2026 as travelers compete for what can be elusive upgrades and the ranks of elite travelers with piles of frequent flyer points swell. United’s Nocella said last week that the carrier will have multiple production lines revamping the interiors of the narrow-body planes this summer, helping to pick up the pace. The carrier expects about one in three aircraft in its narrow-body fleet, including new aircraft, will have the upgraded interior by the end of the year. “It will just take a little bit longer than we had originally intended,” he said. A United Airbus A319 was recently modified and should be flying soon, he added. The airline had targeted 2025 to complete the narrow-body upgrades, but it’s unclear if United will make that goal. Separately, United said that all of its wide-body aircraft will be outfitted with premium economy seats and its Polaris seats, the carrier’s top-tier class on international and other long-haul flights, by August.<br/>
Logistics billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne, Lufthansa's (LHAG.DE) top shareholder, has no plans to raise his stake in the carrier to a 25% blocking minority, which would give him the power to veto major strategic decisions, he hold a German paper. Kuehne in September disclosed that he had increased his stake in Lufthansa to 17.5%, after the German government sold all its remaining shares in the airline, which it accumulated as a result of the COVID pandemic to keep the airline afloat. "It should remain at the current 17.5% for now," Kuehne, who is also the controlling shareholder of Swiss logistics firm Kuehne & Nagel and has a 30% stake in container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, told Welt am Sonntag. "I am not aiming for a blocking minority," Kuene said, adding he was satisfied with Lufthansa CE Carsten Spohr.<br/>
China's three largest airlines reported narrower losses in the first quarter, with domestic and international travel picking up after the country dropped its strict COVID restrictions at the end of last year and reopened its borders. Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines, China's no. 3 carrier by revenue, cut its first quarter loss to 3.8 billion yuan ($549.3 million) from 9.3 billion yuan in the last three months of 2022. China Southern Airlines Co Ltd (600029.SS), which posted a staggering 15.1 billion yuan loss in the last quarter of 2022, reported a 1.9 billion yuan net loss, while flagship carrier Air China Ltd (601111.SS) cut its quarterly loss to 2.9 billion yuan from 10.5 billion yuan. The three major airlines increased flights significantly in March, with the number of domestic and international trips offered by Air China topping that of the same month in 2019, before the pandemic. Although domestic travel in the world's second-biggest economy has rebounded, international flights are still only at a third of pre-COVID levels, according to Flight Master data, holding back a broader recovery for the sector. Investment bank CICC said this month that it expects the recovery of international routes to accelerate in the second quarter, adding the pace "might be faster than market expectations". CICC expects international and regional flights - including routes to Macau and Hong Kong - for the summer season to reach 60% of 2019 levels. China's aviation authority has set a goal for a recovery to about 75% of pre-pandemic levels overall this year, and also to break even with a total of 460 million passenger trips. That compares with 252 million passenger trips in 2022, according to data from the transport ministry.<br/>
Air New Zealand is resuming daily flights to Shanghai as a major Chinese airline returns this week. Air China will touch down in Auckland on May 2, offering direct flights to the capital of Beijing, four times a week. The following day, Air New Zealand will increase its flights to Shanghai from four passenger services a week to daily. Air New Zealand and Air China are alliance partners, and the combination of the two services will see around 6500 seats a week between Auckland and China. “China is an incredibly important inbound visitor market, and we expect interest in visiting New Zealand to continue to grow among Chinese travellers,” said Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty. “Our strategic alliance with Air China provides additional capacity and improved connectivity, helping us to meet demand and showcase New Zealand as a world-class tourism destination.” Pre-pandemic, China was New Zealand's second-largest international visitor market, after Australia, with 407,000 visitors in 2019. Next month will see the return of another Chinese carrier, Hainan Airlines, which will operate two services a week to Shenzen – China’s third-most populous city after Shanghai and Beijing. Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines and Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines are already operating out of Auckland. Pre-pandemic, China Southern also operated out of Christchurch Airport.<br/>